The USDM Jam series is an event that is the brainchild of a Japanese enthusiast named Tetsuya Yamaguchi. It started out as an event that was mostly unknown to anyone outside of Japan, but thanks to the wonders of the internet and social media, USDM Jam has grown considerably and is now an event that many automotive enthusiasts all over the world look forward to. When it first started out, it was mainly a car show that consisted of Japanese enthusiasts who all had one thing in common, which was the love and fascination of the U.S. car community. While we have always looked to Japan for inspiration, things have now come full circle and these Japanese USDM enthusiasts are now attempting to build their cars with what they determine to be styling characteristics of American enthusiasts. Over the years, thanks to ambassadors like Takeshi Kobayashi and Tetsuya Yamaguchi, American goods are now more readily available to the Japanese. The internet has also contributed a great deal to the growth of the USDM “style” in Japan. People in Japan look at sites over here in America and quickly adapt our growing trends to their vehicles. They are every bit as fascinated with us as we are of them, so it’s almost a trade-off of styles. It’s a little weird when you think about it because they are adapting a style that we have adapted off their style. It sounds confusing but the results are very interesting to see. Even with the meshing of styles, personal creativity and tastes have made builds unique in every way. USDM Jam isn’t just limited to modified vehicles either, the event also consists of strictly US domestic market vehicles that aren’t available to them and when looking through photos, you will often find yourself confused to see completely untouched vehicles at their events. This isn’t because these owners choose not to modify their vehicles, they just have a vehicle in their possession that no one else has because it is not available to the Japanese market. To them it is just cool to have say, a Chevy Avalanche over there or something as odd as a old beat-up U-Haul truck. It’s American goods and that is what is sought after for them. It is a lot like clothing and shoes that aren’t available to them, just in a much larger scale…

American enthusiasts’ car blogs and websites are often a source of inspiration to them and they also are big on collecting merchandise from these American websites. I too have sold many Chronicles products in the past to people in Japan and I must admit that it is still a really cool feeling whenever I see one of my decals on their cars. This site was never meant to reach the Japanese automotive culture but I’m glad that I have been able to make an impact in any way. I have met Tetsuya Yamaguchi in the past and always look forward to seeing him every time he makes his way out to America. Though he is an older gentleman, I thoroughly enjoy his enthusiasm and excitement any time he is at one of our automotive events. One of the first guys I met through this site, Takeshi Kobayashi from Type_K Autosource, is a person that I can honestly call a friend these days. Every year he comes out for a couple of weeks at a time and we all try to spend as much time with him when he is here and show him American hospitality. Takeshi is one of the main outlets for many Japanese enthusiasts out there when it comes to USDM parts and accessories. He’s made a business out of it and is often out here in America purchasing vehicles that customers have asked him to buy for them. I am very proud to see how we have all had a chance to meet and though we are all thousands and thousands of miles apart, in opposite ends of the world, we all have a common interest and have become friends because of it…

The USDM Jam 9.0 event is quite possibly the largest one to date. Tetsuya put together a great show and even guys like Adam and Ken from Wek’Sos as well as the guys from Kyoei USA managed to take a flight over there to support him. A chunk of the proceeds from the event also went to the Japan relief fund. Though it may seem like it is a thing of the past for us, the Japanese are still dealing with the major earthquake and tsunami that devastated their country. With the help of the automotive community and events like USDM Jam, the country is improving every day and recovering at a rapid rate. Some day I hope to make it out there as well, hopefully by next year I can say that I attended a USDM Jam event and can say that I stood in front of these cars and studied them thoroughly. For now, thanks to some of my friends in Japan, I can provide you some coverage from Tetsuya’s event…

The photos for this series of USDM Jam 9.0 coverage will be provided to you via the guys from Tactical Art as well as from another enthusiast by the name of Koji Karimata aka KaRy. I have personally met the guys from Tactical Art in the past and you should all know them by now because they are regular contributors to the site. The funny thing is, if it had not been for Mr. Koji Karimata’s photos from last year’s Hellaflush Japan event, I would have never known who or what Tactical Art was. It is because of his photos that I was able to discover these guys and I am honored to be able to use his photographs this week. Unlike the Import Alliance Spring Meet coverage last week, I will not be dividing the photos into different parts depending on who shot them. Instead, I will try to do my best to combine all the photos as one so that it all meshes together. I want this coverage to flow seamlessly and give you guys the feel of how it would have been like had you been there for yourself. One major thing that I am happy that Yasutaka Shimomukai and the Tactical Art guys have picked up is my style of coverage. They realized that I always cover the event from start to finish and their photos reflect that. When I say “start to finish” I don’t mean that they just cover the first car they see to the last. I mean that they cover the event from the start of their day to the end of the day when they go home. In that process, they also cover everything else that they see around them, which gives it more of a personal feel. It is a style of event coverage that I have always done since the very beginning and it’s very cool that Shimomukai was able to pick up on that. Karimata has done a great job of covering the vehicles at the event, but everything else surrounding the event is brought to you by Tactical Art…

With that said, let us get moving with the coverage. I want to say that there are roughly around 200 or so photos that I will be using, which I will divide into four parts. Today is part one and will cover mostly the stuff that happened that morning of USDM Jam 9.0. Tomorrow will be more Honda-intensive so if you are just here to see photos of cars, you may want to just look over these today and then come back tomorrow for the bulk of the Hondas. If you are a loyal fan of The Chronicles, then you are probably here to see and read about it all. I thank you for that because you appreciate the time I take into putting the event into words for all of you. Enjoy and thanks go out to Yasutaka Shimomukai, Atuki Tubouchi, Tactical Art, as well as Koji Karimata and Tetsuya Yamaguchi. Without you guys this coverage would not be possible. 

They probably won’t have the English proficiency to understand all my words so the only thing I can say to acknowledge their hard work is… “Arigatou gozaimasu” or ありがとうございます

USDM Jam 9.0…let’s go…

Yasutaka Shimomukai and the Tactical Art crew heading out from Osaka to Mie prefecture at around 5:48am (or around 1:48pm here in the U.S. PST)… It was a hazy morning but the sunlight was rising through the clouds….

I guess the Japanese don’t have the strict “no cell phones while driving” laws that we have in place here in California…Here he would have already been slapped with a $148 fine (or more)…

Nothing says USDM style like a combination of Wek’Sos and The Chronicles… Like I said earlier, it’s still really cool to see one of my decals that I put together here on my desk in my bedroom all the way in Japan…I guess I must be doing something right, haha…

A slammed 3-series BMW wagon that they encountered at a stop…

A view from a distance of the early morning roll-in area for USDM Jam 9.0… Tetsuya Yamaguchi was able to find quite a picturesque location for the ninth edition of his event…

One essential mod that every Japanese USDM fan must have is an American plate frame on their Japanese-issue license plates…you’ll see it throughout the coverage… Another trend that they have adopted right away is our “Hellaflush” or “stance” style. Though it is not universally popular over here, it is huge in Japan…It’s also one of the styles that we Americans originally adapted from the Japanese Shakotan/Kyusha style. Like I said, things have come full circle…we just happen to take the style and make it more retarded, haha…

Bike racks (unfortuantely) have also become quite popular within the Japanese USDM crowd. Here you see a Civic Ferio on JLine wheels with a bike rack and what looks to be some sort of skateboard ramp attached to it. At least the rack is being used in this case, haha…

This is Tactical Art’s new demo vehicle, a U.S. Acura RSX-inspired Honda Integra Type R (yes, DC5R) on 3-piece CCW LM5 wheels…It also has geniune U.S.-spec taillights and a lip kit from Extreme Dimensions… The exhaust is custom made by Tactical Art…Pretty neat if you consider how sought after a DC5R is here in the U.S. There they want their ITRs to look like RSXs…

Turbo EK Civic from Osaka JDM/Car Craft Boon on Barramundi Design custom forged wheels…

Quick shot of the bay. I think I have a better shot of the bay that I’ll post later on when we get to Karimata’s photos…

What looks to be a Hypnotic Teal Mica paint job on this DC2 on white-faced BBS RS wheels…

3rd generation CA Accord with a whole lot of negative camber and VIP dish wheels…You’ll see a couple of these at various Japanese car shows like USDM Jam but you’d be hard-pressed to see a modded one here in the U.S. these days…

As I said before, their love of the USDM style is not limited to just Hondas and imports…there are also quite a number of really clean, well-built lowriders in Japan…

Slammed Audi wagon with a Yakima Skybox…

Another shot of the Tactical Art DC5R…

American super celebrity Adam Luong from Wek’Sos fame giving Tactical Art the thumbs-up… I couldn’t be there so Adam made sure to wear a t-shirt with my initials on it…haha…

I really wanted to dig up more photos of this DB Integra on bronze TE37s but the only other shot I saw was the same as this with the driver side door open… If I had been there I’m sure I’d be studying this Integra inside and out, especially after I spotted the cage….

Kyoei USA, a VIP shop down here in Arizona, was out at USDM Jam and had a full booth with a Miata and Integra/RSX on hand…

The MX-5 Miata on CCWs in the Kyoei USA section…

One build that I really wanted to see more photos of was Kohei Saito’s Midori EK9 Civic Type R… You know things are different in Japan when you see someone convert a CTR to a U.S.-spec Civic DX as it would have possibly been modified here… I just love how they are just down to do something like that and make a car as sought after as a CTR into a U.S.-inspired DX…

This silver Integra on SSR Competitions, belonging to Takahiro Kato, was very well-done and also a great example of a build that could possibly have been built here or in Japan… According to Takeshi, Kato recently changed up his Integra from a prior “HF” or “Hellaflush” look…

I first found out about this Midori EK9 when Takeshi from Type_K posted about it. It’s actually a customer of his and I’ve posted up a better photo of it on The Chronicles Facebook page…

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Yasutaka fell on the ground while taking this photo but this is one of his favorite angles…haha..

Silverstone S2000 on white Work VS-XX wheels… note the non-fucked up fenders. Yet another example of a Japanese S2000 enthusiast pulling off better fitment than Americans…Cookie Monster chumped-up fenders have yet to become a hit there…

The European-contingency was also well represented at USDM Jam 9.0…

Loved this Honda Inspire/Saber to U.S. Acura TL-conversion on HRE wheels…

I have another shot that Karimata took with the hood popped that I will post later on…

HRE wheels are universally baller in any country….

EJ1 coupe from Craft-A… These guys regularly track their cars but are also very into the US-style… All their cars are a little rough around the edges because they just beat the shit out of them at track events…

Rotiform wheels are starting to pop-up over in Japan and are beginning to become the new popular wheel there… Here is a set of Rotiform NUEs on a Volkswagen Bora…

There were also enthusiasts there who could give a shit less about “USDM-style” because they are rocking beautiful exotics like this Porsche 997….note the vanity plate as well… This thing is just sick looking…

Loving these new Volkswagen Beetles over the previous generations because the lines are much more aggressive…

Bug-eyed Integra sitting on aggressive BBS RS wheels…

Cream colored EG Civic on Barramundi wheels…

This Accord wagon would have been awesome if it weren’t rocking that interfooler in the front…

This guy was plenty comfortable enough with his sexuality to roll-up to USDM Jam in his pink Daihatsu on daisy wheels…

I know we are already about 40 photos in but the car coverage has not even begun yet. The stuff you’re seeing today is just from roll-in…

This is Tetsuya Yamaguchi’s personal ride, a USDM-inspired Integra with a U.S. 97-01 front end and newly-acquired 16-inch VIP Modular wheels. A better shot of this coming later on as well…

Slammed and cambered ridiculousness is apparently universal now… On that note, back tomorrow with much, much more from USDM Jam 9.0 in the land of the rising sun….

Thanks for looking…